Jammu, December 21: The state of Jammu and Kashmir comprising three distinct divisions of Kashmir, Ladakh and Jammu is a place that can be called Natures’ own state as Mother Nature has bestowed this state with not only the natural beauty but also natural geographical topography that acts as a balance between the three regions to preserve its composite culture.
The state has been created in such a way that composite culture in ingrained in its ethos and nobody needs to teach us the virtues of secularism or religious harmony as it comes natural to us.
The three distinct divisions are interdependent on trade, art and crafts which is evident from the fact that while Kashmir goes under the thick blanket of snow the people find Jammu as natural place for trade and cultural exchange and harmonious living.
Similarly Ladakh also has two other regions to depend on for trade and cultural exchange after winters set in there while in summers Kashmir and Ladakh become natural destination for Jammuites.
It is a known fact that people of all these regions have no bad blood against each other in general and it is only the political opportunism that instigates people of one region against the other giving an impression that it was communal and regional polarization that was at work in the state.
A look at the recently Art Bazar in Jammu was enough to negate this notion when this correspondent went round the stalls and found the representation from all the three regions selling their wares quite comfortably without any hesitation or fear of intolerance.
The civil society in general lives here in complete communal harmony and cohesion and it was in this light that our worthy Education Minister Naeem Akhtar had said that J&K Has Distinction Of Being A Bastion Of Multi-cultural, Multi-religious Political Entity Which Is A Miracle Of The God.
The Earth News fully supports the education Minister on his assertion that J&K was a place of multi-cultural and Multi religious miracle of God, but the question is how far government was utilizing this trait of the people to bring smoothness in law and order of the state.
The state is an example of unity but political battles has made this state into a war zone of sorts which is now known the world over as a troubled state.
Knowing well what ails the state the Minister for Education, Naeem Akthar called upon the civil society to contribute in bridging the trust deficit’ and razing the walls of distrust that have grown in the minds of the people.
“I believe J&K has the distinction of being a bastion of multi-cultural, multi-religious political entity which is a miracle of the God” Naeem said in the backdrop of war, bloodshed and hatred prevailing around the world.
Reacting to the areas of concern touched in the presentation, Naeem asserted that the Jammu Kashmir still enjoys the privilege of having a cosmopolitan society. “There is no place in the world like Jammu and Kashmir, no building like civil secretariat where the people of all religious faiths and ethnic extractions work together” he said. “The challenge before us is now to preserve and strengthen this uniqueness” he asserted. He said people generally do not realize importance of this advantage in a given time adding “Like in Kashmir we had a cosmopolitan society in every sense. It was not realized then but is missed now”. He noted with concern that for past some time certain degree of distrust has crept in the hearts of the people which needs to be bridged.
“There is a challenge that we are slightly uninformed about each other and despite knowing each other for decades have started to judge each other on the basis of incidents and happenings taken place elsewhere”. He said as an education minister he felt the need and asked the policy makers that the new education policy should reflect and address this problem by including the social messages of all religions, which carry the general divine message of good and bad.
There is a need to raze down the walls in our minds to save the bastion of humanity that is the ability of different people to live together, he said and hoped the civil society would guide the state in “As to how to spare the coming generations from the tragedy that we have lived”.
With such a background we can easily say that this state is nature’s own state where the Mother nature keeps checks and balances through cosmopolitan culture and geographical interdependence.